£1 billion laundered through barber shops and vape stores on UK high streets

The UK government has launched a £30 million crackdown on criminal gangs laundering £1 billion through high street barber shops, vape stores, mini-marts and sweet shops every year.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) estimates at least £12 billion of criminal cash flows through the UK annually, of which around £1 billion moves through high street businesses linked to fake goods, tax evasion, illegal working and illegal drug supply.

The Home Office said in a statement on Tuesday (19 May) that the three-year programme will fund raids, shop closures and cash seizures, directing £20 million to enhanced law enforcement and a new multi-agency co-ordination cell based at the NCA.

A further £6 million goes to Trading Standards officers in at-risk local authorities, with new training to help them identify suspicious businesses and step up enforcement.

The funding will deliver 75 additional police officers across the NCA, Greater Manchester Police, West Midlands Police, and a joint Kent and Essex unit.

A new High Street Organised Crime Unit, overseen by Security Minister Dan Jarvis, will co-ordinate work between government departments, policing partners and Trading Standards.

The Home Office said it expects police to raid thousands of businesses, arrest hundreds of individuals and seize millions in cash as the campaign moves to a permanent annual footing.

“Criminal gangs have exploited our high streets to launder their dirty money and undercut honest businesses,” said Shabana Mahmood, Home Secretary. “We are hitting back with a nationwide crackdown to shut these fronts down, seize dirty cash and drive organised crime off our high streets and put bosses behind bars.”

The campaign builds on Operation Machinize, the largest existing operation against economic crime on UK high streets, which has logged over 950 arrests and more than £10 million in criminal value seized over the past 18 months.

The latest Operation Machinize round in November saw officers visit or raid 2,734 premises, arrest 924 individuals, seize or restrain over £13 million of suspected criminal proceeds, and destroy more than £2.7 million worth of illicit goods.

Shutting bogus businesses down

A rapid review of local responders’ powers is now underway. The government has opened a consultation on extending the duration of closure orders, where appropriate, to shut criminal businesses down for longer.

The Chartered Trading Standards Institute has argued that cuts to its members’ resources under earlier governments helped serious and organised crime gain a foothold on high streets.

The unit’s creation follows a year-long BBC investigation that exposed drug gangs, child sexual exploitation reports, money laundering, immigration crime and ghost directors linked to shop fronts selling illegal cigarettes and vapes.

Proposals for the unit appeared first in the 2025 Autumn Budget, with the Home Office releasing the funding and structure detail on Tuesday.

Jarvis told the BBC there would be thousands of raids on high streets across the country in the coming months, and that he was confident the operation would imprison serious organised criminals and seize millions of pounds of laundered money.

“For the past 18 months, the NCA, in conjunction with policing partners, has led Operation Machinize, the largest operation against economic crime on our high streets,” said Sal Melki, Deputy Director of Illicit Finance at the NCA.

“By bringing together policing, HMRC, Immigration Enforcement, Trading Standards and other partners in a co-ordinated approach, over 950 people have been arrested and over £10 million worth of criminal value seized.”

Now read: UK pay climbs 4.9% as 100,000 jobs vanish in April